Chapter 19
Briony took a seat in Joss’s office. It was like no office she’d been in before. There was no desk or office chairs. Instead, there were two couches, positioned opposite one another, with a coffee table in between. The wooden floor was covered with a woven rug in an Aztec style, and there were many paintings on the walls – watercolours of the coastline. She glanced at the full bookcase lining one wall. There were ornaments on the bookshelves as well as books; the sort of souvenirs picked up when travelling abroad to exotic locations.
For some reason, she had an idea that perhaps Joss had dropped out of practising law for a time and had just gone travelling around the world. The only inkling that it was a law office were the legal books on the bookshelves and the laptop on the coffee table.
Joss leaned forward in his seat and put his hands together. ‘Now, about the deeds to The Beach House.’
‘Yes?’
‘Unfortunately I discovered that there are no electronic records of the deeds.’
Briony had expected as much.
‘So, the next best thing, as I explained before, is to do a reconstitution of the title.’
Briony sat back in her seat. She had thought she’d walk into Joss’s office to some dramatic news – maybe that Clarissa had discovered the identity of the nasty person who wanted her grandmother’s property.
‘But at least there’s one bit of good news.’
‘There is?’ Briony leaned forward in her seat. ‘What’s that?’
‘Well, that you found your grandmother.’
Briony sat back in her chair, deflated. Of course she was happy that she had found Blythe, but it had been a bittersweet discovery.
‘I’m so sorry. I have a lot of cases, and there’s only so much I can do.’
Briony understood. She’d seen the amount of people in and out of his office.
‘But I’ll get a file together to pass over to the Land Registry in respect of the title deeds and see what they are prepared to do.
In the meantime, put together as much evidence as you can regarding how long your grandmother has lived there, like utility bills, council tax, photographic evidence.’
‘You mean the photo albums dating back to my grandparents’ day?’
‘Indeed. Then I can start the process of sorting out the application with the Land Registry.’
‘Thank you.’ Briony was about to get out of her seat, when she realised Joss had something more to say.
‘Look, something you said when we spoke at The Beach House has been playing on my mind.’
Briony couldn’t imagine what it was. They had talked at length, but she couldn’t remember the conversation verbatim.
‘I have a photographic memory. That’s why I can type up all my notes after the sessions, in case anyone else, like the police or courts, needs to know what has been discussed.’
‘Okay, so what was it that I said that’s been playing on your mind?’ asked Briony, intrigued.
‘You said, Do you think that this person, whoever they are, knows something? I asked you, How do you mean?’
Briony nodded. ‘Yes, that’s right. I remember.’
Joss continued, ‘And you replied that you just had this feeling there was more to this, but you couldn’t put your finger on it.’
‘Yes, I still feel that way about the whole business with my grandmother’s house. I just can’t explain why.’
‘I feel the same. Call it lawyer’s intuition.’
Briony had a thought. ‘What about Clarissa? Did you manage to speak to her? Has she found out anything about the person who’s after The Beach House?’
‘Yes – that’s the other thing I was going to tell you. There are other beachside properties further along the coastal path. As far as Clarissa has ascertained, none of those have received letters asking them, or pressuring them, to sell.’
Briony frowned. ‘Perhaps it’s because my grandmother can’t prove ownership of the property.’
‘We don’t know that she can’t. Not for sure, not until she … wakes up.’
Briony fell silent.
‘What are you thinking?’ asked Joss.
‘I’m thinking if she could prove that she had a copy of the deeds, surely she’d have, you know, responded to those letters.’
‘Maybe she’s just stubborn, and thinks she doesn’t have to prove anything.’
Briony thought of the sheer number of letters Blythe had received. It certainly felt like the person responsible knew something. ‘Do you think they did a search of the Land Registry, to find information about the property, and discovered there were no title deeds of the property electronically registered?’
‘I thought of that. The Land Registry does record any searches that have been done on properties. No such search was carried out.’
Briony sighed. That wasn’t helpful.
‘So, in light of that, I suggest that apart from myself, Emily and Clarissa, you tell no one else that your grandmother is not well until we get to the bottom of what is going on.’
Briony raised her eyebrows. ‘You think it’s someone local?’
Joss shook his head. ‘I don’t know. But if it isn’t, it’s possible they have a contact locally. But the fact that no searches were done through the Land Registry suggests to me that whatever is going on might be … personal.’
Briony had become convinced that some big-shot property developer had targeted the property and wanted to get their hands on The Beach House for the land, so that they could build a massive house there and make a lot of money. But what if it wasn’t a developer targeting The Beach House at all, but someone targeting her grandmother personally? What if they were trying to get back at her for something by evicting her from her home?
Briony stared at Joss. A scary thought came out of nowhere. ‘So, wait, you’re saying that my grandmother might have an enemy?’
‘I wouldn’t exactly put it like that.’
‘Someone with a grudge, then.’
‘I suppose it’s always a possibility that someone might be bearing a grudge, for some reason.’
Briony stared at Joss, nervously chewing her fingernail.
Joss said, ‘Do you have any idea who that might be?’
Briony didn’t want to acknowledge the thought that had just popped into her head. ‘I wish I had the letters with me. I’d like to know when they started.’
‘You mean from the solicitor?’
Briony nodded.
Joss tapped his temple. ‘I have that information right here.’ Joss reeled off the date that he recalled seeing on the very first official letter that Blythe had received.
Briony stared at him.
‘Briony?’
‘I’d better go.’ She grabbed her handbag and stood up abruptly. She almost ran to the door.